Keskustelujen arkisto

From: <JALustig at aol.com>

> By the way, I can't say that I agree with the idea that the Barks paintings
> are of no or little importance. Personally, I enjoy most of them. They are
> much more impressive if you see the originals rather than the reproductions.

I'll sneak in here to say what I think about this matter. I'm no "fine art"
expert, I think that Barks' oils are pretty nice, and that's enough for me.
Had I the money (lots and lots) and had to choose between a Picasso and a
Barks (repeat: LOTS. So much money that I wouldn't be interested in resell)
I'd certainly choose a Barks... but for what's behind the oil itself, that is
the story that inspired it.

--
Francesco

Links to rare/original/unpublished Barks items. I don't have any
connection with the sellers or the sites. If you've seen other
rare/original/unpublished items, I hope you'll post them to the list
as well.

Items at Ebay (http://www.ebay.com):

- - - - - - -

#1151195091
CARL BARKS! TOM & JERRY SUMMER FUN #1 (1954)!
"http://cgi.ebay.com/aw-cgi/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=1151195091"
[Droopy script-only story, about bluebeard's buried treasure. DvE]

#1151195827
CARL BARKS! TOM & JERRY WINTER CARNIVAL #1!
"http://cgi.ebay.com/aw-cgi/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=1151195827"
[Droopy script-only story, about fox hound. DvE]

#1151196174
CARL BARKS! TOM & JERRY WINTER CARNIVAL #2!
"http://cgi.ebay.com/aw-cgi/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=1151196174"
[Droopy script-only story, about serum for forty children. DvE]

[Unfortunately, the cover pictures are made with a digital camera. DvE]

- - - - - - -

#1153500555
Disney Carl Barks Signed Scrooge Cel
"http://cgi.ebay.com/aw-cgi/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=1153500555"
Seller: Scrooge McDuck & Money, 1967, [...] An Original Production Cel

#1153509756
Disney Carl Barks Signed '67 Scrooge Cel
"http://cgi.ebay.com/aw-cgi/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=1153509756"
Seller: Scrooge McDuck & Money, 1967, [...] An Original Production Cel

- - - - - - -

Best wishes,

--- Daniel

Hi
I wonder if the political correct police will arrest me know that I
again used the word.
(I respect indians, but want the right to call them by that, as I did
all my life - I know they are not from india, but native americans, but
it just sounds ridicoulus to use the long name all the time)

About the italian drawers, I thought about the word square, which would
somewhat describe the style of these italians we talked about. It also
reminds me of Picasso, still. But the word square also means in
american, honest. And I find that fun, so saying that those italians
draw sqauare I say they draw honest and Nice and I don't agree with
myself. Oh stop writing you ... no I wont! - flap - punch - smack -
(sence the Batman-slogan running in my head? follow this, next
bat-episode, same bat-time, same bat-channel?)

well, with all this discussion on political correctness I partly look
forward to read the new digest and see if there's something I should
reply to...
I hope we stopped being sarcastic about white people being normal, I
certainly am not! (LOL...)

A. C. Sivebaek
acsive at mail.mira.dk

[ Lite admin's note: This message was held up because of technical
problems here, and I send it on three days later. I'm sorry about
this. /Per ]

Hi
I didn't know that the best sarcasm was the one you can't see is
sarcasm, I don't agree. As you saw it made me very mad, and sad to
read. so much that I've been up till late both yesterday and now.
Sprea, I'm sorry that I made you think it wasn't sarcasm, I mailed with
Mike and found out.
I don't think though, that the last line, which insinuated that only
white people are normal, was indicating the sarcasm, to me it was just
the final insult, the last stick for the fire and other expressions.

Would I be wrong/killed to say this:
Barks did his comics for the readers (the pay Disney gives really
couldn't have made him carry on, but the possible thaught of pleasing
many kids in america and in the whole world (though he might not have
known that in the beginning, about the whole world)).
He did the paintings for fans, collectors (the worst kind of them, the
others are fans), and for Money, and no doubt he deserved those money,
though he was probably not poor before he started doing them.

I met Barks through his comics, Mr. Garvin, and I also met Vicar and
others there. (And I don't think it's fair accusing people here for
being arrogant, except for a certain italian, I never met more nice
people on one place, and I consider most as friends!)
I didn't notice the paintings, which were only on the cover of those
goldbooks I could borrow from the library, but they were always
borrowed by others, and I might have found a book of comics (not comic
book, but a whole book) too much at a time. My way into Barks was also
the big white book with Uncle Scrooge, which was published here 1975,
it only told slightly that he painted. "He paints a bit, and makes a
coupon for the lottery (danes: do they have tips/tip & vind in the
US?)." I wonder if that coupon think is entirely made up by the same
persons who states, in the first goldbook in 1984: "Carl Barks' the
close worker of Walt Disney" (what?!)

A. C. Sivebaek
acsive at mail.mira.dk

Georges wrote:

>In my humble opinion, you're wrong. As Barks himself
said in an interview conducted by Geoffrey Blum, his
comic book stories are the work he will be most
remembered of ("definitely"). That is also my opinion.
I have nothing against the paintings except that they
are too much sophisticated and "l?ch?es" for me. In
Barks' oils, I don't see the poetry I see in Barks'
comic book stories.<

Well, actually, I'm not wrong.

For one thing, what any given creator "thinks" he or she might be remembered for, often, in historical
terms, has little to do with what they are in fact, remembered for. Doyle, for instance, wanted to be
remembered for his historical works, and not his "hack work" in Sherlock Holmes. Likewise, J.R.R.
Tolkein wanted most to be remembered for his literature and scholarly works and translations, not his
Lord of the Rings trilogy. Barks's opinion as to his own lasting worth holds little weight in the test
of time.

For another thing, the Barks paintings which I think have the greatest value, are not the duck paintings
done as lithographs in the late 80s and early 90s, but are his other anthropomorphic oils and
watercolors, many of which have been collected in Animal Quackers. There you will find the biting satire
and irreverant humor of Barks's best comics period (the mid to late 40s), the hallmark of Bark's best
stories.

What Barks's best paintings represent, like his most memorable stories, is the visualization of specific
parts of pop culture, turned against itself. Specific and detailed characters and places, which make fun
of their couterparts in a non-anthropomorphic reality. Subversive and satiric. Humorous, and sometimes
painful. Barks work was never about being poetic. It was about laughing until you saw what he was
making fun of. Most of todays critics and creators don't get it. I pity them.

Because the subject has been broached in the context of Don's "historical"
works, those who are interested in a spectacular example of creativity might
want to check out Philip Jose Farmer's classic, "The Other Log of Phileas
Fogg." Farmer constructs a novel which uses as its basis "Around the World
in 80 Days" -- he faithfully reports events as shown in the original, but
with a completely different interpretation as to what is really happening,
and why. To say any more would ruin it -- but though it's been many years
since I read it, I still remember it as a work of genius. And tremendous
creativity.

>KRITON:
>> And for some other reason, the artist was listed as Ntini.
>> Regardless of how his name is spelled, I found his art some of the
>> worst I've ever seen. The characters were so distorted and
>> disfigured that they were only recognizable by the color of their
>> clothes!
S?REN:
>I am sorry that you see it this way. Those "new" Italian artists (not
>only Intini) but also for example Mastantuono, Celoni and Lavoradori
>have added something unique to Disney comics IMO.

Yes, I have to agree with that. That is the great thing about Italian
disney comics: you don't know what they come up next. You never get bored
with the flow of different styles. Of course the stories with oddly drawn
characters felt unsettling first but soon I started to wait to see how far
they would go. Now I just enjoy the way the art cheers up the humor of
stories. One can't make too serious stories with this style.

But it is interesting to see how these new artists developed their styles.
To start with Intini, first of his stories published in Finland (in
pockets) is "Zio Paperone e l'oro del Calderon del Diablo" (I TL 1833-D)
from the year 1991. There is no signs of his modern style, ducks look like
any Italian ducks. Then four years later (1995) in the story "Zio Paperone
il pensiero impressionante" (I TL 2086-4) there are few panels where I can
see marks of weird ducks. But they are only supporting characters, the
main ducks look still normal. Same in "Daisy Holmes e lo studio in rosso"
(I TL 2068-3): Daisy looks normal but other characters start to look more
interesting. But the next year his ducks start to get a new appereance: in
story "Paperino e la scoperta a meta'" (I TL 2119-3) DD and GL are
starting to get that Intini look. And next year he again takes a step
toward more cornerish expression (I TL 2149-4 and I TL 2166-1). And the
story "La Banda Bassotti e l'allieva in prova" (I TL 2167-4) already shows
the style I consider Intini-style: characters drawn very violently with
aggressive lines. Year 1998 is the most recent year from which stories
from Intini have been published in Finland and that year he has already
taken his style to the extreme. I don't think he can twist ducks any more
without making them just blurred colors. Examples I TL 2225-5, I TL 2247-5
and I TL 2270-6. (Sorry, I can't make scans.) But I think Intini's style
was at best sometime around 1996. His ducks were nice and round then.

Let's take Mastantuono next. His ducks were stable until year 1998. Then
he started to show some more radical ways of drawing like in "Paperino e
Bum Bum pasticcieri pasticcioni" (I TL 2206-1). Compared to his older
ducks (I TL 1855-C, I TL 1913-E or I TL 2054-1) there is some changes in
his characters facial expressions. They become more bold. And next year he
has taken a one step more toward chaotic expression. This clearly seen in
"Paperino e il sinistro dottor Murdy" (I TL 2252-6) and also in I TL
2226-1 and I TL 2290-1. His mouse has always been one of my favourites. It
has gone through the same changes as ducks but perhaps earlier and not as
severe as ducks. Especially his story "Topolino e il fiume del tempo" (I
TL 2243-1) is perhaps the best new mouse story I have read during the last
years. All in all a very good artist and writer.

Next target is Lavoradori. Again he started as a normal artist in 1992.
His ducks in for example "Zio Paperone alla ricerca del colore perduto" (I
TL 1895-C) and "Zio Paperone e l'oro variabile" (I TL 1960-A) are
traditional Italian ducks. In 1994 I can see some changes in his ducks'
faces. Beaks start to bend in somewhat strange way and around eyes more
lines are sometimes used, like in "Paperino e il pianeta impossibile" (I
TL 2033-2). But a radical change happened in 1997. In storis "Zio Paperone
e il sistema di sicurezza a prova d'errore" (I TL 2152-1) and "Zio
Paperone e gli alleati timidi" (I TL 2196-5) you can see ducks taking
weird shapes in every panel. But this isn't the end: next years his art
developed to become something like modern art in "Paperino e il pezzo
mancante" (I TL 2255-6) and "Che fine ha fatto Brigitta?" (I TL 2241-5).
This even more distorted than Intini's art. A great fun to read.
And last we come to Fabio Celoni who is a great artist as long as I'm
considered. His ducks have the great expressions of Intini and Lavoradori
but the characters don't break up like theirs (I TL 2000-D, I TL 2128-4, I
TL 2314-5). Absolutely great job from him! And his mouse is as great as
ducks. I just love the art (and story) of "Agente Gambadilegno, il caso ?
tuo!" (I TL 2284-5).

What can we make of this? The modern duck style is really modern, only few
years old. But it developed slowly from the basic ducks we see. What I
find strange is that there is so much more modern ducks stories than mouse
stories. But perhaps Mickey as a more serious character doesn't fit too
well with this style. It's also interesting that the new wave came into
existence in such a short time at the end of 90's. It seems that artists
inspired one another. And maybe Disney Italia also wanted have something
new in their comics. Italian insiders can tell more if there is anything
to tell. After all I really like this new way. It gives once again a new
way to view our beloved duck and mouse friends and keeps them fresh.

Huh, better stop now. This is starting to get pretty long. Sorry again
about the absence of scans (I'm planning to buy scanner this summer when I
get some money from my summer job). Dig up the stories or just trust my
eyes.

--
Petri Kanninen (pkannine at cc.hut.fi)
"El?m? muodostaa komplekseja."
Aku Ankan taskukirja -tietokanta:
http://www.perunamaa.net/taskarit/